Where others have failed, Brock Osweiler looks to succeed

First-year Browns QB, after struggles in Houston a year ago, debuts as Cleveland's starter in preseason opener Thursday and looks "to make the most of that opportunity."

Steve Doerschuk CantonRep.com sports writer @sdoerschukREP

A number of Browns observers have made a fair warning about not getting carried away with Brock Osweiler.

Their point: Similar hopes were fueled by Tim Couch, Jeff Garcia, Brady Quinn, Johnny Manziel and others, but look what happened to them.

Another side to the issue, though, is that legitimate hopes accompanied a notable number of the many expansion-era quarterbacks into the job.

Before Couch went 22-37 as a Browns starter, he was a No. 1 overall pick seen by plenty of 1999 scouts as having been worth it.

Before Kelly Holcomb went 2-6 as the starter in 2003, he threw for 429 yards at Pittsburgh in the 2002 playoffs.

Garcia (4-7 with the 2004 Browns) started three playoff games before he arrived in Cleveland and three more after he left.

Before Charlie Frye got benched at halftime of the 2007 opener and traded the next day, he threw two touchdown passes to Braylon Edwards in his 2005 debut as a fairly popular and fairly high draft pick.

Before Quinn went 4-17 in his pro career, he opened his final year of college on a 10-1 hot streak, capping a Notre Dame career in which he once led Notre Dame to a late lead against perhaps the greatest USC team ever.

Before Colt McCoy went 6-15 with the Browns, he was a four-time team MVP at Texas.

Before Brandon Weeden went 5-15 as a Browns first-round bust, he routinely out-dueled top college QBs in posting a 23-3 record at Oklahoma State.

Before Manziel wrecked a Browns regime, he went toe to toe against Nick Saban's juggernaut and landed quite a few punches.

Given this background, pessimism about what might happen with Osweiler is only natural.

Yet, to note that Osweiler is different (for now) than all of the others is only fair. He hasn't failed.

What he does this season is, at the moment, a blank script.

On his side are the experience of starting a number of games for teams that reached the playoffs in 2015 and '16, along with a skill set that attracted Denver to formerly regard him as Peyton Manning's eventual replacement and prompted the Texans to pay him a ton.

There will be a starkly ironic difference if Osweiler succeeds in Cleveland. Couch, Frye, Garcia, Quinn, Weeden and Manziel all arrived after notable successes with their previous teams. Osweiler is coming off a year in Houston that was such a flop that the Texans couldn't dump him fast enough.

Whatever is to become of the Osweiler era starts tonight in his preseason debut, against New Orleans.

Osweiler has taken his ascent to the Browns' No. 1 quarterback job with the bearing of a sea captain beginning the voyage of a lifetime.

"This league gives you opportunities," he said. "Sometimes you don't know when they are going to come. Sometimes you do.

"The key is to make the most of that opportunity. If you do, then the rest will take care of itself."

If he doesn't, rookie DeShone Kizer waits in the wings. Even though he will be the third quarterback to face the Saints, there is a good chance he will get more playing time than either Osweiler or Cody Kessler.

"I will go out here and perform the way I know how," Kizer said.

For what it's worth, Kizer is unlike the quarterbacks who got to Cleveland after strings of successes, and more like Osweiler, in that his national stock as a quarterback was higher going into the 2016 season than it is now.

Kizer got on an 8-1 hot streak during his 2015 season at Notre Dame. He was 4-8 with the Fighting Irish in 2016.

Meanwhile, Hue Jackson enters his second preseason as head coach after striking out with Robert Griffin III and Josh McCown.